"You are seeing some slight economic optimism coming in, and
that's why the market is going up. We are trying to make up what
we lost last week," said Oliver Roth, head trader at Close
Brothers Seydler.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 provisionally
closed up 0.3 percent at 1,165.43 points, its highest finish
since the steep sell off on Feb. 4 on political concerns over
Italian election and a Spanish corruption scandal.

Britain's FTSE 100 also added 0.3 percent, with the gains
accelerating after it broke through January's peak to set 5-year
highs. Germany's DAX was another strong performer
, adding 0.6 percent to close above technical resistance
of 7,700 points.